STAY-cation part 3

So we had yet another Dinner party on FRIDAY night too-this time with Aunt Rachel and her boyfriend Nick, Laura's dad came again and we ate AMAZING HOMEMADE PIZZA!! I know our group ate 4 larges, but I am still craving some and can't wait to make more.

Friday didn't get any photos taken, we played at the pool--Sam had a scare when he fell through a tube and wasn't wearing his floaties, but he's recovered.

SATURDAY also was another day of water fun but this time at NRH2O! We'd never been to a water park with the kids. Stephen was busy helping some people at church move and my options were either to stay at home with the kids or go with the whole McKneely clan (yup, even Grandma, Grandpa, Joey and Sarah were going--along with Uncle Doug, Aunt Debbie, Mary and Katie!!) to have some fun.

I was really busy keeping track of my kiddos so I didn't take the opportunity to snap some pictures, but my mother-in-law did and I will try and snag some of hers to put HERE.

I was surprised at how well my kids did. They were amazing at trying new things. Sam and KP did and loved the water slides, trying the smallest then going to the next biggest, then the next--so long as they went with an adult. At one point Sam pointed up to the sky at the largest one that is typically only for adults and said he wanted to do that one next!! KP LOVED the wave pool and felt very confident once she had a life jacket on. Lindsey's just a fish so she loved all of it as well. And I am so incredibly grateful for all the cousins that volunteered and happily followed my kids around the park letting them have the fun--it's so selfless of them and a HUGE help to me.


We left shortly after lunch so we could get in good naps because our Day wasn't over!!! We had purchased a great deal of Family Pack Tickets to see the FRISCO ROUGHRIDERS (minor league baseball) that night for the 7:00 game. I need to brag on this deal just a bit. $30 for 4 tickets to the game, 4 baseball hats, and 4 certificates to eat at McDonalds--DEAL right?

Our kids LOVED the baseball game. They had "fun crazy stuff" (KP's words) after each inning that was as entertaining to them as the game, and they learned some of the rules of the game. Lindsey loved dancing to the music in the isle and she shrieked with pure pleasure whenever this big bird looking masco came onto the field. Kaitlyn loved learning what to shout and when (CHARGE!!) and when to clap. Sam liked watching the baseball men hit and catch!

Being Silly

Being as normal as can be expected!

We'll do this again for sure! All in all, our stay-cation was a HUGE sucess. So glad for all the fun memories!!

STAY-cation part 2 (the Dallas Zoo)

So we doubled our house occupancy and things were wild and crazy and FUN!! Last week was 1/2 price all week at the Dallas Zoo and we decided to head out!!

To add to the excitement we took the DART down to the zoo because it drops you off RIGHT THERE. Plus because of the DART passes (which we also had to purchase) we got an additional $1 admission to the zoo. Our family got in for $13!! What a steal huh?

We were quite the crew! 4 adults, 2-5 year olds, 2-3 year olds, a 1 year old and a 5 month old. When we got there we met up with Stephen's sister Rachel and Stephen's two cousins Katie and Mary. They were a HUGE help!

It was so HOT!!! Seriously, we stayed really hydrated, found airconditioning to eat our picnic lunch and enjoyed a spray bottle regularly! Our last stop was this splash pad for the kids and we got them all in their swimming suits and I just soaked my feet--it felt good!

Around 2:00 we were totally pooped and headed home. But not before a wonderful ride on the carolsel!! All 3 of my kids LOVED it! Kaitlyn rode on the most beautiful horse, Sam rode a gorilla and was standing right by Lindsey and I don't remember but I think she was on a Rhino or a Hippo!!

We'd seen amazing animals--the Gorilla was right against the glass of the observation deck and we sat and watched him awhile! We saw elephants and giraffes, Rhinos and monkeys, Tigers and crocodiles, Birds and lemurs--we were FULL of animal fun.

AND it was time to go home and get dinner ready for Aunt Laura's family to come over and hang out! I am so excited to finally have a home that can host get-togethers like this! Fun!

A STAY-cation part 1

So we bought a house this summer--big expense! Therefore rather than go on a vacation, we decided to convince Dad to take some time off from work and do things locally instead. This also was nice because our kids were then sleeping in their own beds every night and we could cook food at home that we knew they would eat, etc...

So last week we had a BUNCH of fun things we did.

Tuesday the DMA! The first Tuesday of every month the Dallas Museum of Art is FREE!! We've never been with the kids and decided to go! Don't know that I'd go again, but it was fun. We got there right when it opened, looked around a bit--kids asked LOTS of questions about what they were seeing--nudity, violence, etc. Then we geared them to a WONDERFUL story time with a very talented lady who told stories and did a readers theatre about DRAGONS. Then onto a pretty lame craft of coloring a star.
While they were coloring with markers (not a Lindsey friendly thing) we found this wall full of textures that was touch and feel (way more Lindsey friendly). Then we found these cool chairs that are made by gluing a bunch of cardboard boxes together and cutting them on their sides. Pretty cool idea....
The kids area was a bit more interactive and cool but after those two things, the museum was getting pretty crowded and overwhelming. So we decided to head to FREEBIRDS for lunch (which we hit right at lunchtime and it took WAY to long) then we dropped Dad back off at work. It was overall okay.

Then the next day our COUSINS came! Shelly and Kaitlyn are weeks apart in age and great buddies. Aunt Laura made them matching pajamas for Christmas and they thought it was so fun to dress alike!!

Sam's pet names

Sam is 3 1/2. Usually at this age children start naming stuffed animals and at least with Kaitlyn most everything was named "Kaitlyn" after her. Sam has started doing this, but now he's branching off.....

Meet RASPBERRY JUICY:

Stephen is quite bothered that this takes a shot at Sam's manhood, and has tried to convince him to shorten it to "RJ" but Sam will have none of that.

Then there's PEANUT BUTTER:

Anyone noticing a theme here?

Then the collie A&M Mascot dog whose real name is Reveille has now been crowned HAMBURGER.

And this little penguin who we got the other night in a McDonalds is sometimes HOT DOG and sometimes OREO.

Hangin out at the new digs

So once we get a bit more settled we'll take some pictures and post them for you to see our new house but here are some random shots of us in our new house. We're loving the space it was so needed by our growing family, I however am still getting used to the hour it takes to vacuum (and with brand new carpet the fuzzies require it every other day) and the nearly 2 hours it takes to deep clean all 3 bathrooms. But I'll manage because it's such a good place for us to be!!
Kaitlyn is learning new boundaries of how far she can ride her bike....

After about a week of daily pestering, we found Sammy's tool box in the garage....Lindsey enjoyed his tools too....
And after being outside for a bit it was time for a water break!

Fire Station Tour

We joined a few friends for a tour of the local fire station. We had fun, here are some great shots!
Kaitlyn was eager to try everything,

Sam was a bit hesitant......

Kaitlyn really enjoyed using the hose!!

They needed a volunteer to model all the fire gear so that in an emergency a usually fearful sight of a fireman in his gear would be something familiar--so I volunteered. Don't I look "HOT"?

And here is the only shot of all three actually looking at the camera.

OVERALL Girl

I'm just looking back at the posts and I'm realizing that Lindsey looks like she's in a clothing shortage and I thought I'd offer an explanation.

We're attempting to potty train Sam and in that Lindsey has observed and learned the ease at which to remove a diaper. She LOVES being naked! At least twice a week we peek in on her before we go to bed and find her naked.

She's also really stealth at this activity so during the day she'll remove her pants and diaper and if I'm lucky no "accident" will be involved. So we've pulled out all the overalls we can find because they're an article of clothing that she hasn't figured out how to remove, so those combined with a onesie is the outfit of choice these days--it's for my sanity!!

4th of July Fun!

4th of July was a day full of family fun! Well, as much fun as we could have the weekend before the big move. The day started out with the ward pancake and freedom toast breakfast. Stephen ran around like a mad man helping the activities committee run the event so he didn't quite get into any photos. But we had fun and spent good time with good friends.....

Elder Allred (one of our favorites) and Sam were a team playing water balloon volleyball,

Lindsey was loved by Arhely and Dani and Sandra Hamblin.

Then after the breakfast we literally RAN home, but on church clothes and came back to the church to attend the baptisms of these great little boys, Chase and Jacob Barnes. These kids are awesome! They totally know the gospel and have been taught well! This is especially impressive seeing as though their parents were baptized a little over a year ago--a goldenly wonderful family!! We love the Barnes and are so glad to call them our friends.


Then later Grandma and Grandpa came over for a BBQ and we went to see fireworks. We'd never let Sam and Kaitlyn go see fireworks before because we thought they'd be scared and it always started a bit late but we napped them earlier in the afternoon and they were excited to go! Grandma was a good sport to stay at home with a sleeping Lindsey and Grandpa had to come along (he's a favorite you see...)

First stop: Sonic for milkshake treats. Kaitlyn wanted a strawberry one because it was healthy, Sam just got Chocolate!

YUM!

There was a free firework show not far from home and in order to avoid the crowds we parked and camped out at an LDS church parking lot just a mile away and we got out our camping chairs and....

Happy 4th of July!